March 6, 2004
IOWA CITY, IA – The Iowa men’s tennis team lost its fifth dual of the season in a 7-0 loss to top-ranked Illinois Saturday afternoon at the Recreation Building.
With freshman Sebastian Delgado out of the lineup due to injury, Iowa was forced to shuffle its doubles lineup. In the No. 3 match, sophomore Aaron Schaechterle and senior Matis Jasicek posted an 8-5 victory over Michael Calkins and Evan Zeder. In the No. 1 match, sophomores Chaitu Malempati and Parker Ross lost an 8-6 battle to Ryler DeHeart and GD Jones. The doubles point rested on the No. 3 match where freshmen Jonny Hoak and Walter Valarezo lost a tough 9-8 tiebreak to Phil Stolt and Pramod Dabir.
The Hawkeyes faced tough competition in singles action, competing against four nationally-ranked opponents. In the No. 1 match, Malempati was defeated by 23rd-ranked Brian Wilson (6-0, 6-1). In his first match at the No. 2 position, Ross lost to 54th-ranked Calkins (6-3, 6-3). Valarezo was defeated in his first competition at the No. 3 position by 67th-ranked Chris Martin (7-5, 6-1). In the No. 4 match, Hoak fell to 100th-ranked DeHeart (6-3, 6-3). Schaechterle lost a tough 7-6 tiebreak in the first set of the No. 5 match to Jones and was defeated in the second set, 6-3. In his first dual singles competition of the season, Jasicek lost to Dabir (6-4, 6-3).
“Illinois proved why they were the top-ranked team in the country and the defending national champions,” said Iowa Head Coach Steve Houghton. “I thought we competed well given our injury situation and youth.”
Iowa (3-5, 0-2) will return to action March 17 when it travels to Mobile, AL, to face New Orleans.
RESULTS
#1 Illinois 7
Iowa 0
Singles
No. 1 #23 Brian Wilson (IL) def. Chaitu Malempati (I), 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 #54 Michael Calkins (IL) def. Parker Ross (I), 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 #67 Chris Martin (IL) def. Walter Valarezo (I), 7-5, 6-1
No. 4 #100 Ryler DeHeart (IL) def. Jonny Hoak (I), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 GD Jones (IL) def. Aaron Schaechterle (I), 7-6, 6-3
No. 6 Pramod Dabir (IL) def. Matis Jasicek (I), 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 DeHeart/Jones (IL) def. Malempati/Ross (I), 8-6
No. 2 Phil Stolt/Dabir (IL) def. Valarezo/Hoak (I), 9-8
No. 3 Schaechterle/Jasicek (I) def. Calkins/Zeder (IL), 8-5